For Emily Current and Meritt Elliott, the hyphenate approach to their personal brand as celebrity stylists and designers of The Great women’s wear label has enabled them to reap the benefits of living in Los Angeles.
Current, who has been best friends with Elliott since they met at UCLA, says one of those advantages was recently highlighted by Tom Ford. “He said, ‘runway shows happen all over the world, but after the shows, everything filters through L.A. [Here], you get to see not how a model wears it, but how a person wears it.’”
The duo, known for their soft, over-dyed take on American classics, built their reputation dressing the likes of Jessica Alba, Chelsea Handler, and Reese Witherspoon. And while many stylist-turned-designers eventually shift their focus to the latter, Current and Elliott strive to keep up with both.
“A designer who used to be a stylist said to us, ‘I understand why you guys still have your toes in styling, because you’re out there. You’re seeing how tailors are consistently changing a hemline or a rise of a pant. You’re shopping and you’re looking through costume shops,” Elliott explained.
Their process has no doubt benefitted from the life they have built in the city — with occasional nods to their NorCal roots. “We can be inspired by other parts of California, but L.A. has given us the ability to create, which has made us fall in love with it,” Current said.
Proximity to their production also allows the designers to maintain complete control over their carefully crafted aesthetic.
“L.A. has such a specific characteristic with garment dyes and cottons and fabrics and washings that no one else really does. That’s been in our DNA since we started designing,” Current added.
Equally important are the relationships they forged with local manufacturers during their years developing their Current/Elliot denim line. “When we go into work with people here, they’re respectful of our voice because we don’t march to the same tune,” Current said.
Both their philosophy and their designs give their business a distinctly West Coast vibe. “Though we’ve lived here for so long, I don’t know that we identify exactly as L.A.,” Current admitted. “But I think we just feel California to our bones.”
